Howard

This is the text on the NRA Site: Governor Christie Nixes Gun and Magazine Ban Legislation Today, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie ® vetoed A.2006/S.993, sponsored by Assembly Majority Leader Louis Greenwald (D-6) and Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg (D-37). This legislation sought to arbitrarily lower New Jersey’s magazine restriction from fifteen rounds to ten. New Jersey is one of only a handful of states that already has a restriction on the number of rounds permitted. Of course, criminals ignore the law, making such measures completely ineffective at addressing public safety and violent crime. Cities like Camden, Jersey City, Patterson, Newark and Trenton continue to experience high crime rates despite New Jersey having some of the toughest gun control laws in the nation. The state has had a fifteen-round magazine limit for about two decades and it has had zero impact on crime during that time. Yet, New Jersey’s anti-gun legislators were poised to enact more of the same failed policies and continue their attack on law-abiding gun owners in the Garden State. The NRA actively worked against these bills during this legislative session and testified in opposition to these anti-gun bills in both Senate and Assembly committee hearings at the Statehouse. We thank the hundreds of New Jersey NRA members who also traveled to Trenton to testify against these bills. Also, thank you to those NRA members who were unable to attend committee hearings and instead made phone calls to legislators and the Governor. Our unified effort made the difference! Using the contact information provided below, please call and e-mail Governor Chris Christie to thank him for vetoing this anti-gun legislation and defending the Second Amendment.

I was not trying to attack you or what you had to say, most was spot on. I was just trying to educate those not familiar with cameras not to judge quality by images they see on the computer from web pages. As far as DSLR I was suggesting rental as you are correct that you cannot buy in that price range. If you are not happy with the D7000 and don't need some of its features the D5300 has amazing image quality As for older people and cameras well it all depends. My dad is 82 and takes his d90 now D5300 with 24-70 f/2.8 and 70-200 f/2.8 all over the world on cruises and planes -- so it all depends.

Let's hope someone let the cat out of the bag too quickly and it had to be pulled for a few hours.

Linda Burnett, 26, a resident of San Diego, was visiting her in-laws and, while there, went to a nearby supermarket to pick up some groceries. Later, her husband noticed her sitting in her car in the driveway with the windows rolled up and her eyes closed, with both hands behind the back of her head. He became concerned and walked over to the car. He noticed that Linda's eyes were now open and she looked very strange. He asked her if she was okay, and Linda replied that she had been shot in the back of the head and had been holding her brains in for over an hour. The husband called the paramedics, who broke into the car because the doors were locked and Linda refused to remove her hands from her head. When they finally got in, they found that Linda had a wad of bread dough on the back of her head. A Pillsbury biscuit canister had exploded from the heat, making a loud noise that sounded like a gunshot, and the wad of dough hit her in the back of her head. When she reached back to find out what it was, she felt the dough and thought it was her brains. She initially passed out, but quickly recovered. Linda is a blonde, a Democrat, and an Obama supporter, but that could all be a coincidence. The defective biscuit canister was analyzed and the expiration date was from 2008, so it was determined to be Bush's fault.

That is true, the camera that is not with you takes no pictures That is why I almost always have one of my three Nikon bodies riding shotgun with me in the car. Your pictures really don't tell us anything as you can't tell anything about the quality of an image from screen resolution on web page one the internet. I do know I would never be satisfied with the lack of sharpness in the last image, but I normally shoot with f/2.8 glass. But cameras and lenses are a lot like guns, there are many brands and price points and one for every user. There is no one size fit all, which is why there have been so many different answers here. It would be nice if there were a place where you could rent (at low cost) a bunch and try them out to see what meets your needs. The feel in your hand is important too, much like some people like the grip angle on Glocks both others hate them an like a 1911 better.

You were right Sandy!!! I shoot the STI so much better that I figured I would put up with one maybe two jams, it was the other seven or eight that did me in.

USPS sucks so bad it is not funny. I swear there are days where my carrier works from home Not that long ago I was waiting for a package and got an email it had been delivered. Went to the mailbox, searched by the front door and garage and found nothing. Three hours later I was out cutting the grass and it shows up. I ask WFT? She tells me that she logs it all as delivered when she leaves the post office not when it actually gets delivered. I would fire her ass if she worked for me.

Are you freakin kidding? If you don't like it quit and get another job. Those package are saving your sorry ass and the postal service. The USPS is a dinosaur and should be shut down. All it delivers is junk mail and bills - the latter could be done electronically. The deal with the last mile for FedEx and UPS was to increase volume and defray costs. If it was not a good deal it would not happen. BTW this story is just another example of everything that is wrong with government. What business raises their prices in a hope to increase volume? Everything I studied in college and grad school taught you have an inverse price volume curve. If you want more of something, your charge less for it - NOT more!!!!

Well Fastd it's all a trade-off between ease cost and image quality. I have a Nikon 28-300 lens and it's a great walk around lens, but it cannot compare to my 24-70 or 70-200, the image quality is night and day.

Actually there may be a lot more time than most think. The clock is 45 days while the legislature is in session. While they are not in session the clock either pauses or he has till they come back in session.

Get high quality cards, not the cheap crap. Sandisk Extreme or Ultra, esp if they will take any video. I suggest more smaller cards than fewer larger cards. Cards can go bad, why risk losing lots of pictures when one card with everything craps out. Plus, smaller cards cost less per meg. I see the camera can shoot jpeg and raw. If it can do both at once (some can some can't) I suggest with memory as cheap as it is to set it up to shoot both. They don't even need to know about the raw. But if they get a spectacular shot or two raw will give you latitude to more processing on it and make it truly great.

Sounds like a nice option, I wish them the best of luck with it. Be sure to share some of the images with us. ALSO make sure they practice using it and are fully confident with it so they can get the most out of it on the trip.

I agree, which is why I suggested the D5300 which is a small light weight easy to use consumer DSLR that takes amazing pictures. If only going with one lens I think it has to be an 18-300 or 28-300. I don't think they want to deal with changing lenses and risk getting sensor dirt on a trip like that, especially if they are not familiar with changing lenses or might not have the manual dexterity. I know you have gotten a lot of somewhat conflicting advice, but there is no one shot answer here. You have to trade-off their capabilities versus the quality of images they hope to capture. Let us know how you make out, hope we have not confused you too much.

Msokad - do you have them online somewhere that we can check them out?

I agree don't try a new DSLR in battle for the first time - that is why I suggested renting for four weeks, to give time to play with it and learn first. I would also agree that for an older person a point and shoot is "generally" a good option. If you told me they were going to Disney World, or London I would have suggested one. When you tell me they are going on this once in a life-time Alaska venture I would hate to see them miss so many great shots that you really can't get with a PS camera. That is why I think the D5300 is the perfect body for them to rent. It has all the image capabilities of some much more expensive cameras without all the pro level controls that they won't use anyway. Take them to a store and let them play with a couple of bodies. If it is beyond them, then by all means get something simple. If they can handle it then the pictures they get may just be stunning.

I absolutely HATE auto-correct on my phone. I am fairly certain I typed excellent. That is a funny auto-correct!

Supertelphoto has given some eccentric Excellent advice if you decide to buy versus rent. The only part I have a problem with is the idea of using a Canon . That is cause I am a Nikon guy!

Should not be an issue. Its not even an issue where you run and gun. A friend recently "forgot" his gun at an IDPA match and he shared mine. When it was his turn to shoot I just went up to the line with him. On the load and make ready command I just drew my gun and handed it to him and stepped back. On the holster command he handed me the gun and I put it in my holster. The MD had no problem with this at all.

The Home Invasion course is being given July 12th. Figure once I take this I can become a criminal, that way I'll be able to carry a gun in NJ

Well the gun is on its way to Texas without me to visit STI. Hopefully they will improve it's reliability.

Wow, ordered some yesterday and just got a shipping notice with tracking number. They must be neck high in ammo

If you want you can store it at my house if you don't have room if you let me use 10% of it as a storage fee

Dave is correct, good gear can be heavy and it all depends on your parent's physical condition. My dad is 82 and has no problem lugging the heavy stuff, but when its not a real important trip will just take an 18-200 lens which is a decent walk around lens. I checked around and http://www.borrowlenses.com is a site many I know recommend. The D5300 camera which is a great consumer sized Nikon. My dad just picked one up and it takes great pictures and he loves it. It has built in WiFi and GPS, which is a great feature for travel. You could rent one for 28 days for $170 which gives them time to play with it and learn it before the trip. I would want better glass, but the Nikon 18-300 lens would run $147 for the same period. That gives both wide and long capability, but will not be as sharp as some more expensive options. But that combination will probably be the lightest weight DSLR option. They can even use that camera in basically point and shoot mode as it has both automatic and scene modes if they are not true photographers.

Thanks for the plug T-Bill. SeamusSU - while there may be a few of us that know cameras here, I highly suggest you check out the site I suggested. There are a few gun guys on that site too, but I would not go there for information on guns or shooting - you get my drift. If you post your questions there you will get info not just about gear but suggestions on which rental sites to deal with and which to avoid. If you can't get what you want there I can give you the name of sites geared more to high end stuff, but I did not want to overwhelm you - this is a good general photo info site.

Well as you know, I know a thing or two about cameras; but I don't know a thing about your parents. I have no clue how old they are or what their capabilities or desires are. From the 50th anniversary I can assume they are past their 40's The key thing for getting good pictures in that environment will probably be good fast long lenses - that means big dollars. If they have the capability to operate a good quality DSLR there is another option you might want to consider. There are many outfits that rent professional quality gear. Since this is a once in a lifetime thing you might want to do that to capture great shots that you won't have a second chance to get. You could rent something like a Nikon D7200 and 70-200 f/2.8 VR lens for two weeks for probably half what your budget is. You could also get a 2x TC or a longer lens too. That would be the way to capture the best quality pictures for the budget. Obviously this type of gear is way beyond your budget to buy. If you decide on a non DSLR you want one with the best optics possible and real zoom not digital zoom. I will admit I don't know much about these cameras as I am a DSLR guy. I would suggest rather than asking on a gun board you visit some of the photography boards where you will get much better feedback on those cameras. http://digital-photography-school.com/forum/forum.php If the link does not work on your computer just use digital-photography-school.com and select the forum. There is also a lot of other good info from the main page.